The time has come to decide on paint colors. Y’all, I am the worst at choosing a paint color. I just don’t have a talent for looking at a swatch and envisioning it on the walls. I have been researching and researching paint colors for my house and when the contractor told me last week that I needed to make a decision by the weekend, I knew I had to bite the bullet and figure out what I wanted.
I LOVE bright colors in my fashion, but for the house, I want calm, inviting neutrals. I also know I don’t want a lot of different colors throughout the house. In my first house, I had four different colors throughout the small house, and I learned that I want a simpler design in this home.
I broke the colors into the following rooms:
Living room/kitchen/foyer/stairs/half bath/upstairs hallway: one same color
Master bedroom/bathroom/closet/guest bedroom/office/laundry: one same color
Library: one fun color
After I had that decision made, it was time to actually pick out the colors. I had already narrowed it down to three different grays for the living room/kitchen/etc. area. I knew exactly what color I wanted for the master bed/bath/office, etc. And I had an idea of the fun color I wanted to do for the library. I asked the salesperson to mix up samples for me to test out and I was good to go!
For the grays, it was between two shades:
I love how Dorain looks when it’s first applied, but I was worried that it might be too dark for the look I was going for once it dried. I decided on mindful gray because it has a slight green hue to it that gives it a little something extra, don’tcha think? (name that movie!)
Now for the bedrooms/office/laundry room, I always knew the exact color I wanted to do. If you’ve been following my house construction process since the beginning, you’ll know that the interior floor-print of my house is modeled after a house that my contractor built and sold last spring. I went to look at that house when I first started looking at house plans, and I fell in love with the interior layout. I also fell in love with the paint color that the contractor used in the master bedroom of that house. It’s called “Bay Waves” and it’s by Valspar. Here’s how it looked in that master bedroom:
It has a definite blue tone to it, but it also appears gray in certain light. The paint swatch is completely misleading. In fact, when I found it at Lowes and got a sample of it mixed up, I was a little worried that I had taken a picture of the wrong paint can back when I went to look at that house. Just look at the paint swatch compared to how it appears when it’s painted on a wall.
Now, for my last color choice, it’s a little less neutral and calm. There are two guest bedrooms upstairs, but since it’s just me living in the house, I’m turning the smaller upstairs bedroom into my little library. I’ve ordered 5 of these bookshelves to do from floor to ceiling, and I hope to eventually add more. Because there will be a lot of shelving in the room, I wanted to do a brighter “fun” color in this space because due to the limited amount of wall being visible I don’t think it will be too overpowering. I have always loved the “Rachel pink” color from Valspar, but I’ve never actually used it. I decided to try it out and I fell in love. I realize it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m excited about a pink little library to read and house all my books. 🙂
Here’s the color swatch of Rachel Pink:
I’m so glad paint colors are chosen and finalized! Bring on the next stage! 🙂
To see more of my house construction process, check out these posts:
